[leeingham]

Hi,

Im a AV noob all senses of the word. I can connect a basic system up with all cables but anything else is above me.

What I have is:

X360
Blu-Ray Player
Samsung TV with ONE HDMI output

What I want to do is be able to run the Xbox and the blu-ray player at the same time rather than keep going back and forward swapping all the time.

Any way of doing this. I have found a HDMI hub for £14.99 from Alba and assume this would work?

HELP!!!

[Jamie S]

Basically a HDMI Hub is called a HDMI Switch.

A HDMI Switch will allow you to have multiple inputs fed to just one output.

You can view our range here:
HDMI Switch - HDMI Switcher

[leeingham]

are they comonly known as a switch then?

does it affect the quality or anything?

[Jamie S]

Yes they are commonly known as a switch or switcher.

They will not affect picture quality.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello leeingham

Your TV has an HDMI 'Input' - you send signals to the TV over HDMI not receive signals from the TV.

As Jamie S says where you have multiple source devices and a single Input on the TV you require a multiple Input HDMI Switch.

The switch ought not to degrade the video and audio signals travelling over the HDMI pipeline - though anyone in the trade will confirm that you can on occasion run into compatibility problems between various bits of kit due to the nature of the signals flowing over the HDMI connection.

Badly worded web sites will label a Switch in all manner of ways - Hub, Selector etc

All manner and cost of Switch gear available (2x1, 3x1 , 4x1 etc) - some are push button manually operated, most will have IR control and some offer a mix of IR, Push button and Auto source sensing.

Work out how many Sources you are likely to end up with (assuming you may have plans to expand your system) before you plump for a switch that best serves your requirements.

Media Factory - Octava HDMI Switch, Distribution, Extender and Converters

Joe